The Ills

The Ills
Short Info

“The band’s live performances are electric, with their musical skills fostering an intense atmosphere.”
- IQ Magazine, September 2016

“Very well composed and played. They have everything that is needed, power, emotion and style.”
- Ruud Berends (Eurosonic Noorderslag), 2016

"Ethereal and gentle one minute, dark and chaotic the next; here’s a band to stand next to Red Sparrows, Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai in depth and extremity."
- Clash, 2017

Starting back in 2008 as more of a bedroom project in a tiny flat in Bratislava, a place full of different kind of instruments which they first picked up in what had to be just a little break in a gaming session on playstation, The Ills soon became a regular band.

The Ills are being put into a post-rock box, however it is also shoegaze and elements of math-rock and prog-rock that can be heard in their songs. They are definitely most characterized by their live performances where their musical skills, intense atmosphere combined with intimate parts meet with punk attitude and almost hardcore drive.

With two guitars, bass, drums and no vocals The Ills have played at various places from small pubs and cellars through art galleries and clubs to festivals such as Iceland Aiwaves, Eurosonic Noorderslag, Pohoda, MENT, Incubate, Colours of Ostrava, Waves Vienna, Waves Bratislava, Wilsonic, Creepy Teepee or Rock For People.

Over the years they have played in Iceland, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Poland, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Czech Republic. They toured with Japanese band Tricot in March 2016 and have also shared stages with the likes of And So I Watch You From Afar, God Is An Astronaut, Russian Circles, Rosetta and many others.

The Ills have so far released four albums. After the debut album To Wish Impossible Things (2010) and critically acclaimed Splendor (2012) and Zoya (2014), they released their fourth and so far best received album Ornamental or Mental in 2016.

Their latest album Ornamental or Mental has been praised and played by the likes of Kevin Cole of KEXP, Vic Galloway of BBC Radio Scotland, Klaus Fiehe of WDR 1 Live and Byte_FM. Moreover the band's music and live performances impressed media like Drowned In Sound, Clash, IQ Magazine, Arctic Drones and many others.

Their track "4:17" was selected the Song of the Day on KEXP in March and both "4:17" and "Waltz On Mars" made it to the Music That Matters podcast as well on KEXP. Consequence of Sound even selected their concert into the list of 25 Most Exciting Performances At Iceland Airwaves 2016.

More press Quotes:

"Post-rock, experimental, shoegaze, prog-rock - they do it so well! A really powerful, passionate performance on a big stage, they looked like they owned the stage. They are in the line up of Iceland Airways and I am sure they won’t get lost there. An excellent band."
- Vic Galloway (BBC Radio), 2016

“(The Ills) have just delivered a blinder at Pohoda Festival…. – a name to watch, we hear.”
- 9/10 review for concert at Pohoda 2016
- Virtual Festivals, 2016

“The Ills I really liked. I would like to hear more and definitely stay in touch.”
- Adam J Ryan (The Great Escape)